My Self

My name is Abbey Parker and I am 16 years old and currently in Year 11 as a student at All Saints College in Perth WA. I am a committed and hard-working person who never backs down from a challenge, always ready to give new things a go.

I am currently studying Mathematics Methods, French, Chemistry, Psychology, Human Biology and Literature. These subjects provide a wide range both academic and practical skills which I am able to apply in everyday life.

Outside of school I love to play sports such as basketball and dance. These activities give me the break that I need from school work but also developing many other important skills such as communication, leadership and coordination. The provide me with an important balance between work, study, social life and physical activity.

My key values are kindness, compassion and resilience. These are really important to me as they involve looking after others and myself. By being kind to others and showing compassion I am able to empathise with others and connect with them well, this is something I really value in life as connection is a key part of myself. Some other values I hold are having a high work ethic because it allows me to achieve the very best I can in many areas including sports and academic.

My strengths are organisation, empathy and leadership. I am able to confidently organise and lead a group in an activity or project. These strengths mean I am able to adapt to many social, working and school situations and feel comfortable with new people.

My biggest weakness is overthinking, it means that I stress out about the tiniest details and like to have things extremely organised. Although having a high standard of work is good my overthinking sometimes gets in the way of taking opportunities when they are presented to me.

My Learning

My favourite subjects at the moment are human biology because it has many topics that engage and interest me, and maths because I find it really interesting and learning about the body will be good knowledge for the future.

Next year, in Year 12, I am thinking of continuing with my current subjects, however giving up one as it allows for me to be able to focus more on less subjects for my final year and ATAR score.

Some study habits that help me to improve my grades are time management when I make sure to start studying early so I am not cramming at the end, not overthinking and stressing myself out more then I need to, finally I think having a good study schedule that is realistic with my sports and other commitments whilst also getting what I have to done.

I find that I learn best when I work with others. Being able to bounce my ideas and thoughts off of my friends and then to work with them to improve our answers not only helps me become better but also makes sure that I stay on task. I also find that in the classroom I work best visually with diagrams/ pictures that I can take my knowledge and apply to. Also using flash cards allows me to test my memory and work on the specific topics that I am weaker at.

My Working Future

In the future I would love to work somewhere in the medical field, and I am currently thinking of specialising in psychiatry. I want my job to be able to have a positive impact on the world around me and being able to help people when they are in need is something that I am drawn to.

I currently have a part time job at Gilbert’s, which allows me to develop many interpersonal skills and also gain important knowledge about the workplace. I am able to improve my communication skills with people who I don’t know well and it also gives me confidence to hold a conversation with both my superiors at work and people I don’t know when at the checkouts.